With Me
by WeBuiltThePyramids
Summary: She knew that their suspect had rattled him, and she suspected what had gotten to him the most. But she knew he needed time to think, and she found they communicated better when he committed to not hiding his feelings and she gave him a little bit of time to gather them. Requested by Emma, cross posted to Tumblr


**I got a few fanfic requests the other day, and Emma asked for "Walter and Paige having a discussion about sex." I'm sure there were better ways to tackle this prompt, but this is what came to my mind because this is along the lines of how I see them as a couple (not sexual right away but not ruling it out "at some point.") Figure they've been in a relationship for several months at the point of this fic.**

* * *

Paige made herself finish up the paperwork on the case of the counterfeiting, world famous sexologist – surprisingly not the strangest topic of a case they'd ever had – before she went up on the roof in search of her boyfriend. She knew that their suspect had rattled him, and she suspected what had gotten to him the most, but she knew he needed time to think, because if they were going to have a talk, he'd want to be able to think about how he would articulate his thoughts. She found they communicated better when he committed to not hiding his feelings and she gave him a little bit of time to gather them.

She found him sitting on a bench near the East railing. His back was to her, and although there was quite the view out in front of him, she knew he was seeing nothing.

"Hey."

"Paige."

She stopped just a few steps behind him. "Do you want to talk about today?"

There was an encouraging silence. Paige took advantage of the lack of a _no_ or a _not particularly_ to pose her question, to offer out her prediction of what had upset Walter so much.

"It really bothered you that Dr. Maeda put so much emphasis on sex's importance in a relationship, didn't it?"

Walter shifted his weight, not looking at her. "She gets results. It is hard to argue with someone who is as accomplished in her field as Dr. Maeda. You remember when I would have dismissed her field. But I've learned that I can't just accept the science that I prefer." He craned his neck around to see her, and his mouth opened as if he were about to speak again, but then he closed it and faced forward.

Paige came over and sat down on the bench next to him. "Walter?"

"Paige, the extent of how important our relationship is to me is…endless." He glanced at her.

She nodded. "I know."

"And it's not as if I wouldn't want…not in general, but when _you_ are in the picture, when it's you…" he cleared his throat, shifting his weight again. He always did this when he wasn't sure how to say what was on his mind.

"Walter," she said. "Don't let what Dr. Maeda said bother you. Even if one percent of couples didn't need to have sex regularly to maintain their relationship, that's what, over three million people in the U.S. alone? There's nothing wrong with you, Walter. There's nothing wrong with us."

"It's not like I've never…thought about it," Walter said, sounding frustrated. "It's just…" he paused, sighing. "Having…sexual relations with someone makes you vulnerable. Physically, mentally, it…" Walter shook his head. "You lose control. That's something that I have…never been comfortable with. And you…" Walter shook his head. "You…affect me. And I care about you and I _want_ to have all of those things with you but…" he bit his lip. "It's just…difficult…for me to be vulnerable." He made eye contact with her. "And I wish it wasn't the case, but it is, for now. I can't…act…on things I feel because I'm still learning. I'm still learning so many things."

She slid an arm around his shoulders, her free hand reaching for his, where they were folded in his lap. "Walter," she said softly, "I know. And while I…" she bit her own lip, "while I would love to be with you like that…I don't ever want to do something with you that you aren't sure that you want to do." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I just want to emphasize that no matter what, no matter how vulnerable you may be or how vulnerable you may feel…at _any_ point in the future…" she squeezed his shoulder and hand, her voice dropping into a softer tone, "you're safe. With me."

Walter had been looking down at their hands, and after a long moment that followed her words, turned his head to look at her, his eyes brimming with affection. He leaned over and touched his forehead to hers. "I know."


End file.
